Polarization converter application for accessing linearly polarized satellites with single- or dual-circularly polarized earth station antennas
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus responsive to an input signal for transmitting corresponding linearly polarized signals, said apparatus comprising:
- a dual-circularly polarized feed system having a left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) transmit port and a right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) transmit port; and
polarization conversion means coupled to said LHCP and RHCP transmit ports and responsive to said input signal for providing a converted signal to said LHCP and RHCP transmit ports for causing said feed system to transmit signals linearly polarized in at least one direction.
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Abstract
A single- or dual-circularly polarized earth station antenna is converted into a single- or dual-linearly polarized earth station antenna for accessing linearly polarized satellites. In a first embodiment, a free-space meander line polarizer providing a 90° differential phase shift between two orthogonal polarizations is disposed in front of the earth station antenna feed system. In a second embodiment, a power dividing (transmit) or power combining (receive) network operates in conjunction with differential phase shift circuits to achieve the polarization conversion.
40 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An apparatus responsive to an input signal for transmitting corresponding linearly polarized signals, said apparatus comprising:
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a dual-circularly polarized feed system having a left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) transmit port and a right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) transmit port; and polarization conversion means coupled to said LHCP and RHCP transmit ports and responsive to said input signal for providing a converted signal to said LHCP and RHCP transmit ports for causing said feed system to transmit signals linearly polarized in at least one direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 9)
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6. An apparatus for receiving linearly polarized signals, said apparatus comprising:
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a dual-circularly polarized feed system having a left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) receive port and a right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) receive port; and polarization conversion means coupled to said LHCP and RHCP receive ports and responsive to signals provided to said receive ports by said feed system for detecting linearly polarized signals received by said feed system. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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10. A method of transmitting linearly polarized signals corresponding to an input signal, via a dual-circularly polarized feed system having a left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) transmit port and a right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) transmit port, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing said input signal; and passing said input signal to said LHCP and RHCP transmit ports via polarization conversion means to thereby cause said feed system to transmit signals linearly polarized in at least one direction.
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11. A method of receiving linearly polarized signals, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving said linearly polarized signals via a dual-circularly polarized feed system having a left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) receive port and a right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) receive port; and passing output signals from said LHCP and RHCP receive ports through a polarization converter coupled to said LHCP and RHCP receive ports for detecting linearly polarized signals received by said feed system.
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Specification